Wednesday, July 6, 2016

FDR on Communism

FDR

"Only at the end of September, at the New York state Democratic convention in Syracuse, did Roosevelt formally open his pursuit of re-election. He called communism the campaign's red herring, pointing to his long record of public service as evidence of his devotion to he American form of government. Noting that communism thrived on widespread economic maladjustment, he blamed Republican mismanagement for the economic disasters of 1929-1933. "Conditions congenial to communism were being bred and fostered throughout this nation up to the very day of March 4, 1933," the president said. "Discontent and fear were spreading throughout the country. The previous national administration, bewildered, did nothing." The rest of the Syracuse speech prefigured his campaign theme: the Republicans had caused the Depression and brought misery and danger to the nation, and he, his party, and the New Deal had come to the rescue. Roosevelt never mentioned communism again that fall. - Landslide, American History magazine, August 2016